CHARLOTTE (June 30, 2022) – The Bank of America Bridge to Careers program at Central Piedmont Community College is an effort to connect Black and Hispanic/Latino students with high-demand careers that pay family-sustaining wages.

Bridge to Careers is part of a $25 million initiative by Bank of America in collaboration with two dozen community colleges and several historically black institutions across the country. It supplies tuition, fees, books and materials for eligible students, as well as advising, career counseling and placement.

In the accompanying video, Central Piedmont President Kandi Deitemeyer outlines the opportunities in each of the fields the program offers. 

“Each one of those, as you think about growing and think about continuing to be a vibrant city, are so important to the well-being of our community,” she says.

• Health Care: “If we’ve learned anything in the pandemic, the wellness of who we are, whether it be mental health, our physical aspects, our physical wellness, is so important,” Deitemeyer says. As some have chosen to leave health-care jobs during the pandemic, “this is a great opportunity for students to advantage themselves to go into a health-care field,” she says. Of more than 200 students enrolled so far in Bridge to Careers, more than half aim to go into health care.

• Construction Trades: “There are always cranes available, moving about and standing up the next headquarters in our city, or the next building, or even residential housing or commercial,” Deitemeyer says.

• Advanced Manufacturing: “Advanced manufacturing is certainly coming back to the U.S., and certainly in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. The jobs are absolutely coming back,” she says.

• Information Technology: “Information technology really does drive everything we do, from health care to construction to our computers at home – really not a job in the U.S., really, or globally, that information technology doesn’t touch.”

• Transportation: “In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, transportation is always a hot topic. The mobility of our citizenry, as we think about the future, is very important,” Deitemeyer says. Transportation itself is a broad field that includes logistics, automotive technology, diesel and heavy equipment and truck-driver training, she says.

“Every single one of those aspects of transportation – when we think about mobility, we think about building a community – are right and available within Bridge to Careers, as well as a career for family-sustaining wages.”